As of Monday (Sept. 28), Saracen Casino Resort has a new leader in Chief Executive Officer Rod Centers. His appointment came only days after the Arkansas casino resort in Pine Bluff shocked the state gaming industry by terminating General Manager Matt Harkness and Chief Market Officer Carlton Saffa.

The Downstream Development Authority named Centers as the casino’s top executive, effective immediately. Centers arrives from Seneca Gaming Corporation, where he served as chief operating officer of the New York tribe’s gaming operations at Seneca Niagara, Seneca Buffalo Creek, and Seneca Allegany. His leadership roles also include stints at Jack Entertainment, Penn Entertainment, and Caesars Entertainment.

Saracen is a commercial casino owned by the Quapaw Nation of Oklahoma and operated by its Downstream Development Authority. The property offers more than 1,500 slot machines, 30 table games, a sportsbook, and a 14-story, 318-room hotel and spa. The 1,600-seat event center regularly hosts national touring acts.

“Saracen is one of the finest properties in the South, and I am honored to lead it,” said Centers. “This team helped build Saracen into what it is today, and this is the team that will carry it into the future. My job is to take it further, and we start today.”

The Downstream Development Authority, a commercial enterprise owned and operated by the Quapaw Nation of Oklahoma, unanimously approved a resolution on Thursday (Sept. 24) in support of Harkness’s and Saffa’s terminations . The company concluded in the resolution that the two executives had founded and marketed a gaming company called GamePhysics to “third parties within the Arkansas gaming industry.”

Saffa told Casino.org that his dismissal came as a “total shock.” The resolution was later approved by the Quapaw Nation Business Committee, which made their firings official.

Shapp said Saracen’s commitment to Pine Bluff and Jefferson County is “stronger than ever,” and that “it starts with the people who work here and the community that has supported us since day one.”

Saffa was with the casino before day one, joining the project in 2019 after Arkansas voters authorized a casino in Jefferson County during the November 2018 election.